Some people in the ASUO are more recognizable than others. One of the most noticeable is the blond girl in the corner who always seems to have something to say.
That’s Sen. Kaitlyn Lange@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Kaitlyn+Lange@@.
Lange, starting her second year as a senator, is not known to pull punches or skirt around issues. She’s developed a reputation, and she’s the first to admit it.
“I have a reputation for being aggressive,” she explained. “It’s because of my mouth.”
She’s had plenty to speak about since her election a year and a half ago. She ran for senate on Alex McCafferty@@http://leadership.uoregon.edu/get_involved/governance/505@@’s Reality Check slate and was elected despite McCafferty’s defeat in the executive race. Since then, during the administrations of Amelie Rousseau@@http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuoelec/@@ and current President Ben Eckstein@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Eckstein@@, she’s been outside the dominant group.
“I’ve always been the girl on the other side of the ASUO,” she said.
That campaign was where she first met Sen. Laura Hinman@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Hinman@@.
“I hated Kaitlyn when I first met her,” Hinman said. “I thought she was trying to cause a scene just for the sake of it.”
Hinman was convinced otherwise when they worked together to craft the Reality Check manifesto.
“I really came to respect her,” Hinman said. “I started to see that she really cares about issues.”
Lange felt the same way. “I loved working with Laura Hinman,” she said.
After chairing Summer Senate, Lange entered last fall and stepped directly into the fight over OSPIRG, where she met Katie Taylor@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Katie+Taylor@@, later her opponent in the vice presidential election of last spring.
“I think she’s definitely very strong-minded,” Taylor said. “She’s not afraid to voice her opinion. She works very hard to represent what she believes in and I think that’s something to be admired.”
Lange was part of a cadre of senators who were opposed to re-funding the OSPIRG contract, which had sat dormant for three years. But Lange stood out for the directness of her opposition to the group.
Taylor said she appreciated Lange’s input in that process.
“I don’t find her abrasive,” Taylor said. “She brought arguments I may not have looked at before. I think when someone is coming from a different perspective, it can make you take a look at what you are trying to represent.”
After the election, when Lange’s Students United slate was handed a landslide defeat, Taylor made a point of approaching Lange and “letting her know that no matter what happened, I really wanted to work with her.”
Lange does not remember that election fondly.
“I think that election will go down in history as the most corrupt the UO has ever seen,” she said.
Even so, she’s still looking forward to the coming year.
“I’m interested to see how this year will go,” she said. “I’ve actually been impressed with the amount of thought that has been put into requests and things.”
She had kind words for some from the winning campaign.
“I’ve grown to like Lamar Wise@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Lamar+Wise@@,” Lange said of the new senate president. “He makes a genuine effort to have good dialogue.”
Those feelings only go so far, though.
“Ben Eckstein is the bane of my existence,” she said. “We’ve never gotten along.”
Despite her reputation, Lange is said to have a softer side.
“She does have an abrasive personality, but she also has a motherly side, too,” Hinman explained.
“Kaitlyn looks at everybody the same,” Hinman said, a point that has been exemplified by her past criticism of minority-focused groups like the African Student Association.
Lange had a terse exchange with ASA leader Kamal Ararso@@http://pages.uoregon.edu/asa/sample-page/@@ last year when she was critical of the group’s request. Then, when Ararso protested that the amount the Senate gave the group was too small, Lange moved to take the funds back.
Hinman said that Lange has been criticized as “racist” and “anti-environmentalist” at various times because of her comments.
“That stuff bothers her and I don’t think people realize it,” Hinman said.
“I really don’t want to fight with every single person in the ASUO,” Lange said. “I just think I’m honest. I think there are some things that are uncomfortable but that need to be said.”
Someone else will be saying them next year, as Lange will probably leave the ASUO at the end of her term this spring.
“I’ll probably pass the torch to another fiery woman,” she said.
“It’s been really fun,” she said of her time in the senate. “There’ve been nights where I’ve cried from frustration, but in the end, it’s been fun and that’s why I’ve kept coming back.”